1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an entertainment system for displaying an input pattern image according to a command or control input from a manual controller and evaluating a control input based on the level of similarity of the input pattern image to a reference pattern image, an entertainment apparatus for executing various programs, a recording medium storing a program and data that are capable of evaluating the control input, and a program itself.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some entertainment systems including entertainment apparatus such as video game machines display video game images based on video game data stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or the like on the display screen of a television receiver while allowing the user or game player to play the video game with commands entered via a manual controller.
In those entertainment systems, the entertainment apparatus and the manual controller are usually connected to each other by a serial interface. When a clock signal is supplied from the entertainment apparatus to the manual controller, the manual controller sends key switch information based on the user""s control entries in synchronism with the clock signal.
Recently developed manual controllers incorporate a vibration generating means for applying vibrations to the user based on a request from an external apparatus such as an entertainment apparatus, for example. While a video game is in progress, the vibration generating means applies various different kinds of vibrations to the user in response to user""s different control entries.
Video games which are applied to the evaluation of control inputs entered from the user are available in the market. In these video games, symbol marks representing direction buttons and various selection buttons are randomly displayed in succession on the display unit. The user quickly presses control buttons on the manual controller in order to match the successively displayed symbol marks. The video game machine calculates a match between the symbol marks and the pressed control buttons thereby to evaluate the control inputs that have been entered when the control buttons are pressed.
Stated otherwise, these video games judge whether a control button pressed by the user has matched the displayed symbol mark or not. Based on the evaluation or judged result, the progress of the video game is determined, i.e., a gameover is declared or the video game proceeds to a next stage.
If control inputs are judged based not only on whether they match symbol marks or not, but also on some other evaluations than the agreement and disagreement between the control inputs and the symbol marks, i.e., evaluations other than whether the control inputs and the symbol marks match each other or not, then it will be possible to provide the video game with more detailed settings for its progress.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an entertainment system, an entertainment apparatus, a recording medium, and a program which are capable of evaluating a control input entered by the user in an analog fashion, rather than on a digital evaluation based on the agreement and disagreement between the control input and a reference signal, for thereby providing a video game with detailed settings for its progress.
An entertainment system according to the present invention includes an entertainment apparatus for executing various programs, at least one manual controller for entering control requests from the user into the entertainment apparatus, a display unit for displaying images outputted from the entertainment apparatus, and input determining means for comparing an input pattern image displayed according to a control input entered from the manual controller and a reference pattern image with each other, and producing an evaluation of the control input based on the level of similarity between the input pattern image and the reference pattern image.
According to the present invention, there is provided an entertainment apparatus for connection to at least a manual controller for outputting a control request from the user and a display unit for displaying images, comprising input determining means for comparing an input pattern image displayed according to a control input entered from the manual controller and a reference pattern image with each other, and producing an evaluation of the control input based on the level of similarity between the input pattern image and the reference pattern image.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a recording medium storing a program and data for use in an entertainment system having an entertainment apparatus for executing various programs, at least one manual controller for entering control requests from the user into the entertainment apparatus, and a display unit for displaying images outputted from the entertainment apparatus, the program comprising the steps of comparing an input pattern image displayed according to a control input entered from the manual controller and a reference pattern image with each other, and producing an evaluation of the control input based on the level of similarity between the input pattern image and the reference pattern image.
According to the present invention, there is further provided a program readable and executable by a computer, for use in an entertainment system having an entertainment apparatus for executing various programs, at least one manual controller for entering control requests from the user into the entertainment apparatus, and a display unit for displaying images outputted from the entertainment apparatus, the program comprising the steps of comparing an input pattern image displayed according to a control input entered from the manual controller and a reference pattern image with each other, and producing an evaluation of the control input based on the level of similarity between the input pattern image and the reference pattern image.
Therefore, an input pattern image displayed according to a control input entered from the manual controller and a reference pattern image may be compared with each other, and an evaluation of the control input may be produced based on the level of similarity between the input pattern image and the reference pattern image. Consequently, the control input may be evaluated in an analog fashion, rather than on a digital evaluation based on the agreement and disagreement between the input pattern image and the reference pattern image, for thereby providing the game with detailed settings for its progress.
The input determining means or steps may comprise image converting means for, or the step of, converting the control input from the manual controller into the input pattern image, similarity calculating means for, or the step of, comparing the input pattern image and the reference pattern image with each other, and determining the level of similarity therebetween, and evaluation calculating means for, or the step of, producing the evaluation of the control input based on the determined level of similarity.
The manual controller may have an analog input block, and the image converging means or step may comprise means for, or the step of, generating the input pattern image based on data from the analog input block.
The entertainment system, the entertainment apparatus, the recording medium, or the program may further comprise progress changing means for, or the step of, changing the progress of a program executed by the entertainment apparatus based on the evaluation produced by the evaluation calculating means or step.
The progress of the program may comprise the execution of a scenario, and the progress changing means or step may comprise means for, or the step of, changing the scenario based on the evaluation produced by the evaluation calculating means or step.
The input determining means or step may include animation processing means for, or the step of, displaying an animation depending on the evaluation produced by the evaluation calculating means or step.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.